"Let us [NOT] pray" at political events

I was a little peeved by the benediction during today's Inauguration Ceremony for Barack Obama. Private prayer (though still unhelpful) is fine; but government-organized prayer is just wrong. I hope that in my lifetime this goes away as a standard for these types of events.

I doubt any prayers were intended to placate a god, as much as they were to placate this country's Religious Right, who, though they took a severe beating in the election, are still a force not to be underestimated.